{"id":52441,"date":"2012-01-27T00:45:44","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T05:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=52441"},"modified":"2012-01-27T10:02:17","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T15:02:17","slug":"homeward-bound-neptune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/astro-daily\/homeward-bound-neptune\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeward bound: Neptune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Agean sunset from the Isle of Paros, Greece. Photo by Anthony Ayiomamitis. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today is Friday, Jan. 27, 2012<\/strong><\/a>. We\u2019re actually on the cusp of an historical era, marked by Neptune\u2019s ingress of Pisces next week on Feb 3. The god of the sea is coming home to the ocean. It\u2019s the last of the major outer planets taking its place for the events of 2012, and the cosmos is giving us a \u2018real moment of astrology\u2019 to be sure we pay attention just before Neptune crosses the threshold. <\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s check in with the Moon first, since it\u2019s the celestial body most people feel most palpably (even those who don\u2019t \u2018believe in astrology\u2019). Today, just before 1:28 pm EST, the Moon ingresses Aries. Aries is the first sign of our zodiac; the first of the initiative-taking cardinal signs that begin seasons (Cancer, Libra and Capricorn rounding out the roster). <\/p>\n

That first degree is so special, it has its own name \u2013 the Aries Point \u2013 whose effect extends to the early degrees of the other cardinal signs. And that effect is to make sure that what is personal impacts the body politic, and vice versa.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s so beautiful \u2013 elegant, really \u2013 about this latest visit of the Moon to the sensitive Aries Point, are the conversations between the other planets and Neptune, which is just at the last quarter of the last degree of Aquarius at this moment. (In other words, Neptune is at 29 Aquarius and 45 arc minutes.) It\u2019s as if Neptune\u2019s homecoming is so momentous the gods are offering all kinds of signs to celebrate, aligning in honor of the transition.<\/p>\n

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For starters, check out the other end of Aquarius: when the Moon enters Aries, Mercury will have just made its ingress to Aquarius moments before 1:12 am EST. It joins the Sun, which entered last week, to light up our consciousness as Neptune leaves. The mind moves faster than the soul; if we\u2019ve struggled with the spiritual implications of our technology, it seems we\u2019re finally about to catch on to what that means.<\/p>\n

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Note Mercury in the very first arc minute of Aquarius while Neptune is in the last quarter of a degree of Aquarius. Mercury and Neptune are joined by the Sun as well as Pallas and Nessus in Aquarius.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Briefly occupying 00 Aquarius and 01 arc minutes, Mercury makes a sextile to the Moon and a semi-sextile to Neptune. The keynote for the Sabian symbol for the first degree of Aquarius (which is \u201can old adobe mission in California\u201d) is, \u201cThe power in all great human works to endure far beyond the workers\u2019 life spans.\u201d Mercury, entering the sign of the individual in the collective, the sign in which Neptune ushered in a whole new way of communicating and thinking via the Internet, is sending a message: what Neptune in Aquarius has spurred us to create may endure, but our individual understanding of how we use it to engage with the world, and how the world enters our little lives, is what may have the most lasting and dramatic impact right now. Witness the SOPA\/PIPA blackout last week for an illustration.<\/p>\n

The last degree of Aquarius, which Neptune has almost completely traversed, has a long, convoluted Sabian symbol. So here\u2019s the keynote instead: \u201cThe ability for the person with an open mind and a deep feeling for self-transcendence to come in contact with higher forms of existence.\u201d And here is Neptune, planet of soulful depths, pouring from the charged, electrical waters of Aquarius into the sign of higher spirit, where it can perhaps finally float up to its true level. The ability for transcendence is there, but will we exercise it?<\/p>\n

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Moon ingresses Aries -- the full chart from which the sample above is taken. The chart is set with what are misnamed "natural houses" (00 Aries in the ascendant) for visual convenience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, Chiron is waiting for Neptune in early Pisces, having recently made the same transition. It’s as if Chiron is holding space for the arrival of Neptune, creating light in the othewise invisible waters of Pisces. We may see more clearly our Neptunian blind spots in the coming weeks \u2013 those places where we have perhaps been substituting delusion for divinity. What we do in the world with that insight is up to each of us.<\/p>\n

In the middle of Pisces, Venus is lighting up the torch of Vesta in a conjunction. The sacred fires of love and devotion are honoring Neptune\u2019s homecoming, like a lighthouse beacon to a world-weary mariner. Meanwhile, across the way in Libra, Saturn is in its own last degree, making a trine to Neptune. But instead of crossing its own threshold, Saturn is holding slow and steady, about to retrograde. The traditional ruler of Aquarius, it\u2019s as though Saturn is holding the edge for Neptune to cross over, shoring up the doorway\u2019s frame to channel the water through.<\/p>\n

Juno, in the last degree of Scorpio, is about to release her grip on her jealousy in favor of some Sagittarian open-mindedness. And even Mars, god of war, drive and willpower has momentarily stopped (a station retrograde) to witness the transition from across the wheel. We don\u2019t actually know what we\u2019re in for in this next era. But the gods and goddesses are offering signs indicating it\u2019ll be something to see, honor and experience fully.<\/p>\n

Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your<\/strong> personal Sun and rising signs? Try out Planet Waves Light<\/strong><\/a>, our streamlined horoscope service. For deeper cultural context and astrological investigation, the premium Planet Waves subscription<\/strong><\/a> includes the same horoscopes, plus extensively-researched articles on Fridays.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. We\u2019re actually on the cusp of an historical era, marked by Neptune\u2019s ingress of Pisces next week on Feb 3. The god of the sea is coming home to the ocean. It\u2019s the last of the major outer planets taking its place for the events of 2012, and the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1734],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52441"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}